Report: Sonnen volunteered to fight Fedor at Bellator 172

Chael Sonnen was ready to step up for his second Bellator main event in as many months.

Following the news that Matt Mitrione will be unable to compete in the main event of Saturday's Bellator 172 show opposite Fedor Emelianenko, "The American Gangster" reportedly stepped up to the plate and offered to fight Emelianenko on just a few hours' notice, according to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting.

Sonnen's Bellator debut this past January ended in disastrous fashion when he was submitted by Tito Ortiz in a little over two minutes after months of aggressively promoting a grudge match with his rival.

Bellator president Scott Coker reportedly told ESPN's Brett Okamoto that the promotion simply ran out of time to find a suitable replacement for the scheduled main event, which has since been replaced by a lightweight bout between Josh Thomson and Patricky Freire.